Resurrecting the Past
by kayluvswes04
Summary: Sixteen years after Fred's death, someone unexpected finds a way to bring her back.
1. Things Change

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters in this story except for Grace. All the rest belong to Joss Whedon and his crew.

**Summary:** 16 years after Fred's death, someone unexpected finds a way to bring her back.

**Rating:** I'm going to say PG-13 for some language and mild violence.

**Pairings:** Mostly just Wes and Fred for now. I might throw some more couples in the mix later.

**Feedback: **I'd like some. If you're going to criticize, please make it constructive criticism. Other than that, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

**Author's notes: **I wasn't going to post this, but I actually liked the way it was starting out, so I decided that maybe other people would like it too. Okay for this story to make sense, you're going to have to pretend about some things, and make some assumptions. First off, because this is the most important part of the story, Wesley and Fred have a daughter. Let's say things didn't stop at kissing during **_Soulless_**. Pretend Gunn didn't walk in, one thing led to another, and Fred ended up pregnant with Wesley's child. Everything else stays the same, so I guess you'll have to assume that everyone remembers everything except for things to do with Connor, because don't you think it'd be a little strange if Fred was pregnant, but she wasn't sure why? Anyways, so their baby was born just a month before Illyria took over Fred's body. Which I should probably also mention, that Wes and Fred still didn't get together until **_Smile Time_**. Wes stuck around for a while, but then he left town before the apocalypse so he could keep his daughter safe. I'm pretty sure that's all you need to know. I'm sorry that this author's note was so long, but I needed to explain these things because I don't plan on explaining them in great detail during the story. If you're still reading this after this extensive note, thank you for your patience.

**Resurrecting the Past**

_**Chapter 1: Things Change**_

I have a strange habit of walking alone in New York City during the night. Maybe it's because I'm not scared. I feel that I could hold my own. Now I know why.

I was walking home from a friend's house during the first night of summer vacation. Things are fairly normal in New York City. Except for your occasional crazy Yankees fan. This night was different though.

Something jumped out in front of me. Let me tell you right now, it was not a crazy Yankees fan. Its face was distorted. I knew right away what it was. I'd seen them in my father's books. It came at me. So I hit it square in face. He was bent over, soothing his now broken nose. So I kicked him in the stomach. When he was down on the ground I kicked him again. I was having a good time, and I wanted one last shot. I quickly pulled out the wooden stake in my pocket and drove it into his chest. He turned to dust and I smiled in satisfaction. I had just staked my first vampire. Carrying a stake around was actually my father's idea. Although now I see, that it worked out pretty well for me.

Someone else lurked in the shadows. I could feel it.

"Why don't you just come out so I can kick your ass now? I have to be getting home soon." I waited in the darkness of the alley.

A man walked out from the shadows. His hair was blonde, and he was short. He didn't look a day over 25. Then again, vampires don't age.

I shoved him against the wall and pulled out my stake.

"Wait!" He screamed. He was terrified. "I'm not a vampire! I'm a watcher."

I let him go. I knew what a watcher was. My father was one years before I was born.

"I didn't know watchers went around stalking girls at night." I said.

"Most of the time we don't."

"What do you want?" I asked. "I didn't lie when I said I had to get home soon."

"Do you know what a watcher...watches?" He asked.

"Slayers." I answered.

"So let's put two and two together. Why would I be 'stalking' you at night, and watching you stake a vampire?"

I swallowed hard. This couldn't be happening to me. I didn't want that life. I've heard of so many slayers dying, I didn't want to be one of them.

"I'm...a slayer?"

The man nodded slowly. "Faith was killed in an unfortunate accident on her way to Los Angeles. You've been called up."

"Faith was killed?" I asked. I'd heard about Faith. In my warped teenage mind, she seemed immortal.

"A pack of about 20 vampires got her. She tried to fight them off, but there were too many for her to fight alone."

The man looked so sad.

"I'm sorry for your loss." I said.

A moment of silence passed before he spoke again.

"I'm Andrew Wells." He stuck his hand out for me to shake it.

"Grace --" He cut me off before I could finish telling him my name.

"Grace Cordelia Burkle Wyndam-Pryce" He said.

"Should I be afraid that you know all of that?"

"No, but that's quite a long name."

"Yeah well, my parents were a little crazy."

"How's your father?" He asked.

"Probably worried sick. I was supposed to be home an hour ago."

"Come on. I'll walk you back. We need to have a chat with your father."

We walked back to the apartment I lived in with my father, in complete silence. I was trying to digest all of this information. Andrew was a watcher. I was a slayer. Faith was dead. It all seemed a little surreal.

"Dad?" I called out as I entered the apartment.

"Where have you been?" He asked, as he came into the living room from the kitchen.

"Daddy...there's someone here to see you." I stepped aside and let Andrew walk inside.

"Andrew?" Dad stood there with a shocked expression on his face.

"Hello Wesley." Andrew and my father shook hands.

"Would you like some tea?" Dad offered.

"No thank you. I'm just here because we need to talk."

"Yes, of course. Please come in and have a seat."

Dad sat down on the recliner next to the couch. Andrew sat on the couch, and I sat next to him. There was a strange tension in the room. I felt like somehow, Dad knew what was coming.

"Wesley, I'm just going to cut to the chase here. Faith was murdered by a pack of vampires on her way to Los Angeles. Grace has been called up to replace her."

Dad shook his head.

"No, I'm not letting my daughter have that kind of life."

"There isn't much of a choice."

"There are hundreds of slayers because of Willow's spell. Let one of them take Faith's place."

"They're all stationed at different places around the world. A hell mouth has been opened in LA. That's where Faith was headed. Grace has to go there now."

"No. I've seen the things that go on in LA. I don't want my child being a part of that."

"Wesley, you don't have much of a choice. We need her."

"No."

"Angel and Spike are still there. She'll be safe."

"If Angel and Spike are there, then why does she have to go?"

"Because the hell mouth has been opened. There's so much evil brewing there, more than usual. They can't handle it alone. They need a slayer. That's why we were sending Faith there."

"Can't Willow undo the spell?" Dad asked. Sometimes he was a very crazy man.

"No. We need all the slayers we can get. Even if she could, it wouldn't change anything. Grace wasn't meant to replace just anyone. She was meant to replace _Faith._"

"Andrew, I don't want Grace doing this. We've built a life here, a life away from evil. She's safe here."

"Was she safe just a while ago when she staked a vampire?"

"She what?" Dad looked over at me. I smiled, still basking in the glow of my triumph. Sure it was just one vampire, but it was my first. That's a victory a girl never forgets. However, I assume most girls don't have the chance to stake a vampire.

"Andrew, why don't you let Dad and I talk for a while. If you leave me a number I can call you in the morning."

Andrew nodded. "I can do that, but please call me as soon as you can."

He handed me a business card with his number on it, bid goodbye to my father, and left.

"Dad, I think we both know what I have to do." I said.

He shook his head. "No, I won't let you go there. I won't let you be put in danger like that."

"Dad, they need me. I don't want to go either, but this slayer thing...it's my destiny. I can't ignore it. I can't run away from it. You always taught me to do what's right. The right thing for me to do is to go to LA. To fight the good fight. Just like you used to."

"I can't lose you." He said.

"You won't, but we have to go. It'll be okay. We'll be there together. You can even help out. After Mom died you quit fighting. Now's your chance to 'help the helpless' again." I gave him a reassuring smile. "She would be proud of us."

"Are you sure you just want to leave so abruptly? You're leaving behind your whole life."

"I know, and I'm not happy about it. I gotta do, what I gotta do though. If that means packing up and moving to LA, then I guess I'll just have to deal with that."

"Well then I guess you should call Andrew and tell him we're going to LA."

Dad got up from his chair, kissed me on the forehead, and went into his bedroom. I knew he was a bit wary about going back to LA. After all, so much had happened to him there. I guess he can't avoid the past forever though. Plus, I was looking forward to meeting the people he used to work with. Things were really changing for us. It was scary, but exciting all at the same time. I was in for the ride of my life.


	2. LA: The City of Angel

**Author's note: **First off, thanks for the feedback. It's very much appreciated! Now this chapter is going to be told from Wesley's perspective. I don't want to confuse anyone by changing the point of view, but I feel the only way to explain what a certain character is feeling, is to write from his or her perspective.

**Resurrecting the Past**

**_Chapter 2: LA - The city of Angel_** (told from Wesley's perspective)

Grace and I had finished packing the last of our things, and were headed to the airport. Andrew arranged to have our things shipped out to Los Angeles that day, promising they would arrive the following day. He'd rented an apartment for Grace and I. He'd handled just about everything, so our move would be a smooth transition. Andrew. He had changed immensely since the last time I had seen him. Being a watcher had changed him. It made him more mature. He isn't the quirky young man that had come to LA to retrieve Dana so many years ago. I just hope he's matured enough to be a good watcher for my daughter. I couldn't lose her to some demon. Not like I lost Winifred.

Fred. She's still the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. I miss her each and every day. The pain that I had felt when she died, still weighs heavily on my heart. I imagine it will never go away. It will always hurt. The only thing that keeps me going is Grace.

She is the spitting image of her mother. There's nothing about her that doesn't resemble Fred, except for her eyes. Her eyes are blue like mine. Fred once told me that was her favourite thing about Grace. That she had my eyes. She didn't explain why, and I didn't question it. I just smiled and kissed her. Grace is just as brilliant as her mother too. I think she'll be a physicist, like Fred. It amazes me how she can be so much like someone she never really knew. However, that's what I love the most about her. How much she's like Fred. It reminds me everyday that even though Fred is gone, I have a huge part of her here, with me.

"Dad!" Grace shouted, pulling me from my thoughts.

"You don't have to yell."

"Well I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes."

"Why?"

"We're at the airport. Now pay the nice cab driver so we can go." She smiled and got out of the car. I paid the driver, and followed her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You can still back out." I asked. I really wasn't keen on the idea of going back to Los Angeles. I was even less happy that it was so my daughter could fight evil.

"Dad...I told you at least fifty times. I have to do this. If you're going to rain on my parade, then just go back home."

"You know you probably won't get a parade, right?" I teased her as we headed into the very crowded airport.

"Yeah, but it's a nice thought." She said. "Someday I'll have my own parade." She promised, as she went through security. I chuckled and followed behind her.

We barely had time to sit down before our flight began boarding. We were sitting on the plane waiting for it to take off. I had this urge to get up and run away. I'd left a lot behind when I left Los Angeles. I left my friends, right before their big battle. I abandoned the only real family I had ever known, when they needed me most. It was worth it, of course, because I had to save Grace. When Fred died, I promised her I would take care of our child. Staying for that apocalypse would have been breaking my promise to Fred, and I couldn't do that. I know my friends understood my reasons for leaving.

I wonder what it will be like to see them again. We haven't spoken in close to fifteen years. Angel had contacted me after the big battle, to let me know that he, along with everyone else, was still alive. The army of slayers, including Buffy and Faith, had shown up, and helped them fight the battle. Willow used her magic to save Charles, who was moments from death when the slayers arrived. Together they fought the battle, and they won. That was the last time I heard from Angel. I'm not sure what happened to them after that.

When I fled Los Angeles, I took Grace to Florida. For some reason, I thought it was the safest place for us to go. Which is actually true, when you're trying to escape evil. It's not so true when you're trying to escape Mother Nature. That summer Florida was hit with several devastating hurricanes. I couldn't keep rebuilding and repairing our home. So I went to New York City. New York had always been relatively safe. There didn't seem to be any evil lurking around there. I had a built a decent life for Grace and myself. I began teaching Latin at one of the local high schools. Teaching was a far cry from battling evil. I enjoyed it very much though. Grace loves New York. Her whole life was there. I know she doesn't want to leave. I also know that she has to. She's been called up to keep the world safe, and that's a destiny she can't escape.

I reach over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. I can't believe how fast my little girl has grown up. One day she's stumbling over herself trying to walk, and the next she's on a plane to LA, to fight the good fight. She smiles up at me and it makes my heart ache a little, just like it always does. She has Fred's smile.

"Are you okay Dad?" She asked.

"Yes, just a bit nervous."

"About what?"

"Everything. Going back to Los Angeles, seeing my old friends, letting you fight evil."

"Yeah I can understand that, but don't worry. It'll be okay." She gave me a reassuring smile. She kept promising that everything would be okay when we got to LA, and I was starting to believe her.

We arrived at LAX many hours later. I'm not even sure exactly how long we had been on that plane, but it felt like an eternity.

Andrew was already there, waiting for us at baggage claim.

"How was your flight?" He asked.

"Excruciatingly long." I replied.

"It wasn't that bad. It was great Andrew, thank you for getting us those first class seats." Grace said. She could be such a suck up sometimes. It was quite amusing.

Andrew helped carry our luggage out to his car. We piled in and drove away from the airport.

"I was thinking we could stop by to see Angel first." Andrew said as he turned down a familiar street.

"Sounds great!" Grace replied happily. She was crying when we left New York. She was sad about having to say goodbye to her friends. Now though, she was practically giddy. She stared out the window of all the stores we passed. I could tell right away she was going to be burning a hole in my wallet.

We arrived at an office building, it wasn't quite as big as Wolfram and Hart, but it was still a rather large building.

"Andrew, is Angel still working for Wolfram and Hart?" I asked. It was an absurd question really, since he did betray the Senior Partners. However I figured Angel would have gone back to the Hyperion, not an office building.

"No, of course not." Andrew pointed to a large sign in the grass. "This is Angel Investigations." He said before getting out of the car. Grace and I followed him.

The building was nice on the inside. It was welcoming and professional at the same time. There were no demons doing the work like at Wolfram and Hart. Just humans, I assume. We followed Andrew down a long hallway, and he stopped in front of an office. He knocked on the door, and I heard Angel telling him to enter.

"I brought you a slayer." Andrew said. He stepped out of the way and I walked in. Angel looked shocked, so did Gunn, whom I noticed was sitting on the chair. The only person that said anything was Spike, of course.

"Percy's the new slayer?"

I shook my head, and beckoned for Grace to come into the room. "She's the new slayer." I said.

The men all looked at her. It was if they had seen her before, but they weren't sure.

"Grace?" Angel asked.

Grace smiled and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you Angel. I've heard a lot about you."

He shook her hand, still looking at her in disbelief. "I.... wish I could say the same." Angel said, smiling nervously. He turned to Spike and Gunn. "You two remember Grace, right?"

"Like we could forget." Gunn said. He stood up and shook hands with Grace. "Anyone ever tell you how much you look like Fred?" He asked.

"Only everyday of my life." She smiled warmly at him.

"Oh!" Spike jumped up with a sudden realization. "You're Fred's daughter!" He said.

"Took you a while, huh?" Grace said. I chuckled a bit. Leave it up to Grace to make fun of Spike the minute she met him. Spike simply smiled.

"I like this one." He said. "She's...spunky."

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Yes, that's one of her best qualities." Suddenly everyone acknowledged me again.

"Wes, it's been so long. How have you been?" Angel asked.

"I've been well, apparently not as well as you though." I gestured to the office.

"A lot's changed since you've been gone." Gunn said. "It's good to have you back though."

"I'll leave you guys to catch up for a while. We can start training Grace first thing tomorrow." Andrew spoke.

"Thank you for everything." I gratefully shook Andrew's hand before he left.

"Have a seat." Angel said, pointing us towards the couch. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

I was about to reply, when Grace spoke up.

"Dad..." Her eyes were focused on someone standing in the doorway. I turned my head to see what she was staring at. In the doorway stood Illyria. "Dad, what's going on? I thought...I thought Mom was dead."

"She is, Grace. That's not your mother." Illyria had entered the room now and was standing in front of us.

"Is this the demon that killed her?" Grace asked, not taking her eyes off of Illyria.

I nodded my head slowly before I spoke. "Yes."

Grace got up and ran out of the room. I wanted to go after her, but I knew she needed a few minutes.

"Wesley, what's going on?" Angel asked.

"I didn't tell Grace about Illyria. I told her that her Fred was killed by a demon, but I didn't tell her that it was walking around in her body."

"I feel connected to that girl." Illyria spoke for the first time since she entered the office.

"That's because she's Fred's daughter." Spike said.

"Grace?" Illyria questioned.

"Yes." I answered her, and then got up to go find Grace. She was sitting outside on a bench.

"You lied to me." She said.

"I didn't lie...I just didn't tell you everything."

"Yeah, when I say that, you tell me it's still lying. How could you not tell me?"

"I didn't want you to know."

"Why?"

"I was afraid that you would try to find Illyria. That you would try to find some way to bring your mother back."

"Well why didn't _you _try to get her back?"

"We did, but there was nothing we could do. Her soul was destroyed."

Grace looked up at me, trying to comprehend what I had just told her. "Do you know how stupid that sounds?" She asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. "Souls can't be destroyed."

"Hers was."

"Who told you that?"

"Someone that worked at Wolfram and Hart. Someone that was responsible for her death."

"And you believed him? I can't believe you just gave up like that. I can't believe you just...bought his bullshit story about her soul being destroyed. That is one of the craziest things I've ever heard."

"Watch your language." I scolded her. "This is why I didn't tell you about Illyria. I knew you would refuse to believe that Fred's soul was destroyed."

"For good reason! Someone's soul being destroyed...that's next to impossible."

"Just forget about it. It's too late now." I said.

"Forget about it?" She laughed, bitterly. "This isn't the kind of thing you can forget."

"We can't bring her back."

"Fine." She gave up, clearly defeated. "Is Illyria anything like Mom?"

I shook my head. "She wasn't when I left."

"I hate her. For killing Mom."

"I understand. I hated her too. We all did."

Grace nodded and got up from the bench. "Come on, let's go back inside so you can get reacquainted with everyone. They seem like great people. Well, except for Illyria."

"They are." I smiled and followed her inside.

****

**Phew! That chapter was a tough one for me to write. Getting inside of Wesley's head was a bit challenging. I wanted to try to capture his character the best I could, but I also had to keep in mind that sixteen years have passed, he was bound to change a little. I'm not even satisfied with the way this chapter turned out. However, I probably never will be, so I think this is the best I could do with this one.**


	3. Feeling Empty

**Author's Notes: **Thanks again for all the feedback! I'm switching back to Grace's point of view for this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to post this. It's just I took a lot of time to write it, and I wanted it to be good. Not a whole lot goes on in this chapter, but I needed to use chapter 3 to explain some things. Before you read the rest of this, I want to take a minute here to reply to one of the reviews.

**I really like the completely original idea you've come up with here. Seems like things are really going to get interesting, and hey-- bringing back Fred is great. The end of Chapter 2 did give me a bit of pause, though, in that it said that Wes, Gunn, Spike, and Angel all "hated" Illyria. On the show, they didn't (perhaps at first, and she and Angel weren't ever going to start up a mutual admiration society.) Wes had made his peace with her by the ending episode and even lied to Angel to save her life. Not hate. You have a potentially fascinating relationship dynamic with Grace and Illyria if you want to explore it, which would add a new vein of conflict.**

What I meant was that they disliked her in the beginning, which is understandable since she did play a pivotal role in Fred's death. I think you'll see throughout this story that Illyria has been with Angel, Spike, and Gunn for many years now, they've grown to like her, and even accept her as part of the "family."

**Resurrecting the Past**

**_Chapter 3: Feeling Empty _**(told from Grace's perspective)

We walked back towards Angel's office in silence. I was still a little angry that Dad lied to me. We didn't usually keep things from each other. Dad and I...we're best friends. Ever since I can remember, it's been us against the world. I never really learned to depend on anyone but Dad, because he raised me that way. So many things had happened to him, he'd lost people he loved, and he even lost himself a couple of times. He didn't want that to happen to me.

Still, how could he lie to me about what happened to Mom? How could he not tell me that some demon took over her body, and is walking around with her face? I just don't understand. I know I never will. I can't understand how he believes her soul was destroyed either. That's so insane. I mean, souls can't ever really be destroyed, can they? I just can't even begin to fathom how that could be possible. She's out there somewhere. She could be suffering in some hell dimension for all we know. However, when I think about where her soul may have ended up, I always imagine she's in heaven. She's not alone either, she's with Cordelia and she's watching over us.

We walk back into Angel's office. Everyone, except for Illyria, is still there.

"Everything okay?" Angel asked, as we sat down. I just nodded.

"Angelcakes...that good looking blonde girl that keeps coming in is here again. She says some demon attacked her. I'm pretty sure she's just here to see you though." A green demon came into the room. He had a cell phone up to his ear, and was dressed in a yellow suit. In a way it reminded me of a banana that hadn't ripened yet. He mumbled a goodbye into the telephone, and turned to face everyone else in the room. He noticed Dad and me sitting on the couch.

"Wesley?" He smiled, and hugged Dad. I almost laughed out loud because Dad's awkwardness was just **that** amusing. The green man, whom I assumed was Lorne, stood up straight again. "What are you doing here? And who is this beautiful young lady?"

"This is Grace, and we're here because she's the new slayer." Dad answered.

"Gracie? Wow." He smiled at me. "You've sure grown up since the last time I saw you. I'm –"

"Lorne" I cut him off. He nodded. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Wish I could say the same." He said. He stared at me for a moment. I knew he was studying me. Realizing for the first time how much I look like my mother. "You look so much like Fred."

"So I've heard." I smiled. A moment of silence washed over the room. Everyone seemed quite happy that they had a missing part of the team back.

"So tell me, how did you all end up here?" Dad asked. Angel leaned back in his chair, and got comfortable. That made it obvious this was going to be a long story.

"Well, after we won the apocalypse the Senior Partners weren't too happy. They kept coming after us, using their minions. So we hid out for a while."

"And by a while, he means a year." Spike interrupted.

Angel glared at him and went back to his story. "We hid out for a year. We hid and we ran, because we knew the Senior Partners would come after us again."

"Did they?" I asked

"No" Spike and Gunn said simultaneously.

"Apparently, they thought we were dead. So after nearly a year and a half of hiding out, we came back to LA. Things were bad here. During the day things were okay, but when night came around it was like all of the hell dimensions on earth. So to make an extremely long story, as short as can be, we managed to get things back under control here in LA, and we opened up Angel Investigations."

"What exactly do you do here?" Dad asked.

"Well, it's like Wolfram and Hart, only not evil. We're fighting the good fight. We represent cases of the paranormal, but we also do everything we did before we took over Wolfram and Hart."

"You mean like the things we did at the original Angel Investigations?" Dad questioned. Angel nodded.

"I figured you would have gone back to the Hyperion." Dad said.

"Someone bought it from us just after the apocalypse. The man that bought it offered us a bunch of money, and we needed it. It's a real hotel now. Lots of tourists stay there." Gunn said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. I could tell he missed the place.

"This place is much better, though. We have a medical wing." Spike added.

"Are the doctors human?" I asked. I knew some of the doctors at Wolfram and Hart weren't all human.

"Yes, everyone here, except for Spike and myself of course, is human."

"Uh, weird question, but do they know they're working for vampires and fighting evil?" I asked. As far as I knew, most humans didn't know these things existed.

"Yeah, they know. Most of the people that work here are what's left of the Initiative. They heard about what happened and showed up in town not long after the apocalypse. The rest of them are the humans that worked for Wolfram and Hart." Angel paused and looked at Dad. "I know you probably think we're crazy having people from Wolfram and Hart working for us, but we can't exactly have normal lawyers helping us. Plus they're well aware of the consequences if they try anything remotely evil."

"What about the Senior Partners? Have they tried to come after you?" I asked.

"No" Angel said. "But that doesn't mean they won't. They're going to come when we least expect it, and we've been expecting it for almost sixteen years now."

"A lot's happened since I've been gone." Dad said out loud, to no one in particular.

"It's good to have you back though." Angel said. "So tell us, where have you two been?"

Dad proceeded to tell Angel pretty much everything that we had been doing the past sixteen years, which seemed boring compared to what Angel and the rest of the gang had been up to. I was half asleep an hour later, when Dad announced it was time for us to go home and rest for a while. Angel suggested we all go out to dinner later that evening, and Dad promised we'd meet them at the restaurant at seven. We bid goodbye to the men, and headed to our new home.

"I like them." I said, as we sat in the back of a cab that was taking us to our apartment.

"I knew you would." He said.

"They're great guys. And Angel he's so...handsome, and tough, and mysterious is that endearing kind of way."

"Oh no." Dad shook his head. "No daughter of mine will be having a crush on Angel."

"I don't." I said.

"Then what's with that far away look in your eyes and all the rubbish you just said?"

"Jet lag?"

"Ha Ha." Dad rolled his eyes. "Anyone ever tell you that you're a bad liar?"

"I get that from you." I said.

We had arrived at the apartment building. After Dad paid the cab driver, we got out and headed inside. Our apartment was on the third floor. This place was so nice. It even had elevators. The place we lived at in New York had stairs. This sure was a step up. No pun intended. Was that even a pun? It doesn't really matter.

"If I did have a crush on Angel, and I'm not saying I do, but if I did, why would that be a problem?" I asked, as we stepped off the elevator.

"Lots of reasons." He replied, as he unlocked the door to the apartment.

"Care to venture one of those reasons?" I asked.

"No, not really."

We stepped inside the apartment and our conversation stopped. It was beautiful on the inside. The walls were an interesting shade of maroon, and it was huge. There was the living room, and then off to the right was a kitchen. There were sliding doors that led to a balcony on the other side of the room. Off to the left was a hallway, which I decided to walk down. It led to the bedrooms. There were three. The master bedroom, which had a huge closet and full bathroom inside, and then there were two smaller ones, and a bathroom in between them.

"This place is great." I walked into the master bedroom, where Dad was.

"I know. Look at the size of this closet!" Dad walked into the oversized closet. "I could _sleep _in here."

"Please don't."

Dad rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to, but I _could._"

"Great. That reminds me though, where exactly are we going to sleep? Our beds are still in New York, or somewhere between here and New York."

Dad looked around the closet he was still standing in, and threw something out.

"What's this?" I asked, as the bag landed near my feet.

"An air mattress."

"Woohoo." I mumbled. My idea of a good night's rest did not include sleeping on an air mattress.

Dad finally stepped out of the giant closet. He walked around the rest of the apartment, and he seemed pleased.

"At least Andrew's good for something. Picking out nice places to live."

"Yeah I just hope his watcher skills are as good as his...picking-out-apartment skills."

"I won't let anything happen to you. None of us will." Dad promised. "But if you do start falling for Angel, I will have to lock you up in your room forever."

"Dad..." He walked back into the living room, and I followed. Seeing as we had no furniture, he plopped down on the floor, and I sat across from him, with my back against the wall.

"He's too old for you."

"He's too old for _everybody._" I pointed out.

"He'll break your heart. Angel's a vampire. He can't have a real relationship. He can't give you the things you desire in a relationship. Although seeing as you're only sixteen, I'm praying you're not desiring anything, from anyone."

If only he knew the things I've done, the things my heart has been through. Of course there's two things a girl can't talk to her father about, sex and guys. No, that's something a girl needs a mother, or an older sister for.

"That's not all. You know if achieves one moment of perfect happiness, he could turn into Angelus."

"Well if I ever had a chance with him, I'm sure I would not be the person to give him perfect happiness."

Dad shrugged. "He has a thing for slayers."

"Look, stop worrying about this. He's attractive. I'll gladly admit that. I don't stand a chance with him though, for _many _reasons, but mostly because he's one of your best friends. That's weird on so many levels. I mean he was there when I was born. It's strange."

Dad breathed what can only be considered as a sigh of relief.

"Why are you trying so hard to get me to not like him?"

"I don't want you to dislike him, I just don't want you having a crush or falling in love with him."

"Why, do you have a thing for him?"

Dad's eyes went wide, and I almost laughed. "Have you gone mad?"

I just shrugged. "It would explain some things. Like why you haven't been on a date in...well ever."

"I've been raising you. I haven't had time to date."

"If you got a thing for Angel, it's totally cool Dad. This is Los Angeles. No one will care."

"I do not have a thing for Angel."

"Okay."

"I don't like men that way."

"Alright." I said.

"The reason I haven't been on a date is because, what's the point? I could never love anyone else. Not like I love Fred. I still love her so much."

"That's great, because you should still love her. That doesn't mean you can't be happy with someone else."

"There's no one else I could be happy with."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"There are some things you just...know. For me, that's one of them."

I nodded, because I understood. Not from experience, but in a way that a daughter understands her father.

"Dad, all my life I found solace by the theory that Mom was in heaven. Now that I know about Illyria, I...don't have that solace anymore. She died because Illyria was taking over her body, and it supposedly destroyed her soul. Now she's gone. She's not with Cordelia like I imagined all my life. She's nowhere. She's just...gone." I stopped to choke back a sob, because I was crying. "She's gone, and I don't understand why."

Dad walked over by me and sat down. He pulled me into his arms, just like he had always done when I cried, and I sobbed into his shoulder.

"How do you go on everyday, without that solace? Without the peace in knowing that she's safe, and she's in a better place?"

"You." He said. "You keep me going. One of the last things Fred told me was to take good care of you. So that's what I've been doing ever since she died. That's what kept me hanging on, even when I desperately wanted to give up. When I thought there was nothing left for me here, I always remembered that there was you."

I hugged him. "Thank you. For not giving into the need to give up. You're a great Dad, and maybe I'm biased, but I think you did a pretty good job raising me by yourself."

Dad smiled, kissed the top of my head, and helped me off the floor. "I love you Gracie."

"I love you too Dad."

The solace that I had believed in all my life may be gone, but there's something inside that tells me not to give up hope. So I won't.

**Okay, so let me explain about the whole Initiative working for AI thing. I didn't think about the fact that it would be strange to have regular people working for Angel Investigations before I started writing this. So I chose to have the people from the Initiative working for him, because to me it was the only thing that really made sense. That's it...that's my terrible reasoning for bringing the Initiative into this story.**


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